She's No You
by Amberrune
Summary: When Aomine's repressed love for Kise finally becomes too unbearable for him to shoulder alone, he attempts to salvage their friendship by using Kise's older sister as an outlet for his passion. His fears become reality when this not only complicates his feelings, but also drives Kise away from him. [Aokise, multi-POV]
1. Iris

**Hihi! I got the idea for this after I read Chp 204 where Kise mentions his "sis." All chapters after this are going to be muchhh longer; this is just a sort of prologue C: Please let me know if you like this idea/story (or if you don't!). I'll keep it going regardless, but it's always nice to have feedback! C:**

Chapter 1 – "Iris"

_It's too much._

"Aominecchi, look!"

_Stop it. Why do you have to look at me like that?_

It was late on a Saturday night and Aomine was currently laid back against a tree at a small spring near his neighborhood. Kise had shown up earlier that evening to complain about his girlfriend, Ari, like always. The two ended up having several beers over the rant, which resulted in Kise now hanging from one of the tree's branches over the water. He had on that same, stupid smile that aggravated Aomine more than anything. That same, stupid smile that Aomine loved more than anything.

"You're going to break your neck, dumbass." He snapped, finishing off the last of the beer in his hand.

"Naaaaaahhh." Kise laughed. "But my head does feel really heavy, hahaha!"

Aomine sighed and got up. "Come on, Kise, seriously. Come down."

"Noooo! Aominecchi should come up here with me. Whydya gotta be such a downer?"

"I'm not a downer, I just would rather not spend the next few months in the hospital." He positioned his body under Kise's hanging torso and lifted him off the branch onto his shoulder.

Kise started banging on his back with his fists "I don't want to come down! It feels good being up high like that. I can't walk very well anyway right now.."

"Tch. At least you realize that." Kise stopped struggling and went limp over Aomine's shoulder. Aomine then became aware of how hot Kise's body was. He gulped and tried to stop his heart from beating faster. "Are you gonna stay over? If Ryoko's home she might tell your mom you were drinking. It's pretty damn obvious."

"Mmmm.. yeah, probably. I'll stay over." Kise slurred. "Put me down, though; it's gonna look weird if you carry me all the way home."

"Haaah. I thought you said you couldn't walk?" Aomine scoffed.

"Shut up."

They stumbled in the door of Aomine's house about fifteen minutes later. His parents were rarely home, so he wasn't worried about getting caught. Kise lived in an apartment with his older sister, Ryoko, while their newly remarried mother lived with their stepfather and his family. The two had lived fatherless their whole lives. To say the least, Kise's family had some major issues, and he didn't exactly get along great with his sister, either, so he frequently stayed at Aomine's place.

Once they were situated in Aomine's bedroom, with Kise sprawled out on the futon Aomine rolled out for him, the night's initial catalystic topic reappeared.

"Sooo.. are you feeling better about Ari?" Aomine asked as casually as possible.

"Ah, yeah. You know how it is. We break up like this all the time. I don't think I want to get back together this time, though."

Aomine's heart stopped momentarily. "..Oh yeah? Why not?" He fake-yawned.

"I dunno.. I just feel like being with her has ruined my mood a lot recently. Like.. my friends at school never want to hang out anymore if she's gonna be there, 'cause they say I act like a total dick when she's around. I probably do, haha."

Aomine laughed, albeit trying to mask his voice's nervous shaking. He had to find out more, though. "Yeah, well, there are a ton of girls after you, anyway. Take your pick of a new one."

"Nope. I'm done for a while." Kise pronounced. "Maybe most girls aren't as bad as Ari, but they still take up all your time on the weekends. I'd rather just relax and watch tv, or play basketball. Plus, the weekends are really the only time I get to see you, now."

And that was the breaking point. Aomine desperately tried to steady his breathing and keep himself from jumping on top of Kise right then and there. He has loved Kise for years now, but has always held back for obvious reasons. However, lately, it's been getting more and more difficult. And now.. now..

_What the fuck am I going to do now._


	2. Empty With You

**Okay! So now we are getting to actual, real chapters that are longer and more satisfying XD This one was actually supposed to be longer, but I decided to split it at this point to avoid it being TOO long, and so that Ch 3 (which is pretty much done already) focuses on the same topic the whole way through. Hope you all enjoy! :3**

Chapter 2 – "Empty With You"

After Kise left his house Sunday morning, Aomine spent the entire day contemplating how he was going to keep his long term secret, well, just that. A _secret._ Goddamnit did he need to find a way to keep his emotions in check. One more instance like Saturday night and he knows he won't be able to control himself anymore. Regardless of how much he loves Kise, he would rather silently destroy himself with his unrequited feelings than risk Kise hating him by telling the truth. It seems as if he's met a dead end. It's too hard to be around him, and yet he still can't keep himself away.

Which is how he found himself waiting for his precious blonde idiot outside of Kaijou High School's main gate. Kise texted him during school saying they should go eat together after basketball practice since _"It's been foreeeverrr since we've hung out during the week, anyway!" _

_Argghh just kill me now. _Aomine roughly pulled at his short hair, trying to distract himself from the overkill-thought-headache he had coming on. He had shown up early because he didn't even go to his practice; he doesen't need to. Plus, he needed extra time to compose himself before seeing Kise. He's now wishing he had gone to practice to at least get some of this physical tension out of his body. Just as he was turning over the idea of chickening out, he heard someone call his name.

"Daiki-kun?"

"..Ahh.. Ryoko..san. Hey."

Kise Ryoko, like her younger brother, was both tall and breathtakingly beautiful, so as she curiously approached him, he sensed countless heads turning to follow her.

She smiled at him; her facing lighting up almost as brightly as his friend's. "Wow! It's been such a long time! I don't see you come over much anymore!"

_That's because we don't like hearing you fucking your boyfriend-of-the-week whenever we're there. _"Uh, yeah. Guess not."

"Are you looking for Ryouta? I should probably bail, then. He's still mad at me for not cleaning up the kitchen last night." She pouted. "Gosh, he can be so pissy sometimes. He just doesn't get how busy and tired I am~ You guys will understand next year when you're seniors!" She winked. "Bye bye, Daiki-kun!" She dashed off, her heavily perfumed hair leaving a trail that wafted right up Aomine's nose. He couldn't help but go into a minor coughing fit.

_God, that girl always wears so much perfume. Another reason I stopped coming over._

Of course it was more complicated than that. Before Kise's mother moved out to join her new family a year ago, Aomine would regularly hang out there. Even without a father, their household was what many would consider normal and happy. Kise's stepfather changed all of this. The selfish bastard somehow worked his way into their mother's heart, and convinced her to move into his house with his two young children. He thought it would be a better idea for the Kise siblings to remain in the old apartment, as Ryoko was going to be a third year in high school with plans to attend University afterwards. He figured since they were "old enough" they would have no problems living on their own. Of course, he was wrong. Soon after Kise's mother left, his sister became increasingly promiscuous, and Kise himself started to dread going home in the absence of his mother's supervision over her. The countless men she would bring home sometimes even looked twice her age. Aomine even thought Ryoko tried to hit on him a few times, but he tried to ignore it.

"-inecchi."

His head snapped up bringing him face to face with a slightly pissed-off-looking Kise. "Oh. Hey."

"What was Ryoko saying? I saw you talking with her."

"Oh, nothing. Something about the kitchen and how she's so much better and busier than everyone else. The usual." He laughed.

This at least brought a slight smile back to Kise's face. "Well, let's go. Ahh, and I have to be back by nine tonight. Ryoko's been telling mom I haven't been coming home a lot." Kise grumbled.

"Sure.."

After they ate and hung around for a while, Aomine walked back towards Kise's apartment. When they arrived, Aomine turned to say goodbye, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw. Silent tears were streaming down Kise's face while he stood frozen by the front door. Kise noticed Aomine staring at him and quickly broke out of his trance. "Ugh! I'm sorry. Really. You can go home, now. I just need a minute.. before I go inside.."

Aomine was clueless as to what he was supposed to do. There before him was the guy he was so in love with, obviously extremely upset. He couldn't stand to see him so sad, but at the same time he was captivated by how beautiful Kise was.

"Kise.. it's alright. I'll wait for you." Aomine placed his hand on Kise's shoulder as his attempt at a comforting gesture, but just ended up being awkward. "Uhh.. do you wanna talk about something?"

Kise half-laughed, half-sobbed. "Hah. I've already made you listen to too many of my problems." He wiped his eyes dry. They both stayed silent for a minute before he finally spoke again. "Ryoko hasn't brought a guy home in weeks."

"That's good, though!" Aomine reassured him.

"Yeah, but.. those guys were her distraction. Her sad, pathetic attempt at a cry for attention from mom. Now all she does is look for things I do wrong so she can tell mom and try to get me in trouble. She's so stupid, though, because she's only aggravating _that_ asshole." Kise didn't need to expand for Aomine to get that he was referring to his stepfather. "He obviously didn't want to hear form us anymore when he told mom to leave us behind. Yet Ryoko won't stop clinging and whining and I'm worried he's getting annoyed. Mom isn't going to leave this guy; he's definitely done something to tie her to him, but it's obvious he wants nothing to do with _us_, and he probably wants mom to forget about us, too. He left.. a pretty threatening voicemail the other day telling Ryoko to quit bothering her mother with pointless issues or he'll have to come sort them out himself. I don't know how serious he was, but something just didn't sound right, and I'm scared, Aominecchi. I'm _scared._" He started to cry again, and Aomine brought him closer into a (still very awkward) hug.

"I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say. "Do you want me to stay with you for a while?"

Kise looked up at him, wide-eyed, and then quickly shifted his gaze back to the ground. "I couldn't let you do that. This is all just childish worrying on my part. It's not a big deal."

"Kise it _is _a big deal. You've been through a lot this past year, and it's obviously taken a toll on both you _and _Ryoko. I just want you to be okay..okay?"

Only a few more quiet sobs and hiccups followed before a tiny "Thank you.. Aominecchi." slipped out.

After Kise composed himself, they entered the apartment as quietly as possible. Kise quickly pulled Aomine into his bedroom, then excused himself briefly to let Ryoko know he was home. When he came back he brought a tray with some tea and snacks. After a couple hours, they were finally falling asleep. Aomine was torn between his happiness and loneliness. He was so grateful just to spend the night with Kise like this; talking and laughing about nothing important just like how all best friends do, but at the same time, he felt like the closer he got to the boy, and the more he found out about the little things bothering him, he realized how insignificant he must be in Kise's life. Kise had so many other things to worry about, and so many other friends that supported him equally. He really was loved by others. He had that personality that drew people to him naturally; the complete opposite of Aomine's. There was no way someone like Kise would need someone like him by his side.

Kise stirred in his half asleep state, and his eyes fluttered open one last time before his sleepiness and sore eyes finally won. "I don't know what I would do without you, Aominecchi.." He whispered softly.


	3. What I Wished I Never Had

**I'm changing the second genre description to angst. I haven't changed any of my original ideas, but I guess I just didn't realize how angsty this would come out in actual text (or will be) XD Anyway, here it is; chapter 3. Sorry it took some time to finish up. **

**THIS IS ALSO THE FIRST OCCURRENCE OF KISE'S POV(only a bit)! Look forward to more! ;) Eventually there will also be a tad bit of writing from Ryoko's POV, but probably not until later later later.**

**Thanks for waiting and reading! review if you like! :D (Also, I'll proofread this later and re-upload with the fixes of any spelling/grammar typos/mistakes. I'm too tired to do it now, but I wanted to get this out before I went to bed haha. So please excuse any messiness)**

Chapter 3 – "What I Wished I Never Had"

_Drip_

_..drip._

Almost immediately after Kise surrendered himself to dreamland, Aomine snuck out to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. He turned the faucet off and was mesmerized by the still falling droplets of water as his mind replayed what he had just been told over and over again.

_"I don't know what I would do without you.."_

_How is it that you can say such things so easily?_

It was that innocently honest side of Kise that Aomine loved the most. He still didn't quite understand exactly what he was even doing to make Kise feel that way. Well, more specifically, what he was doing that his other friends didn't do as well. He couldn't let this go to his head or allow himself to feel as if he were "special" to someone who was already endlessly popular.

When he couldn't get himself to calm down, he wandered into the kitchen to get something to drink. As he passed through the hallway, he heard a voice whispering from within Ryoko's room.

_Sounds like she's on the phone.. What the hell? It's almost two in the morning.._

He silenced his steps; not wanting to alarm her with his presence or alert either of the residents that he was awake. He halted when he heard sobbing.

"Are you telling me _that's _the reason you stopped seeing me? That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard!"

_Shit. I probably shouldn't be hearing this._

Aomine tried his best to blank out the sounds of her phone call and continued on his way to a nice, refreshing glass of water. After he soothed his dry throat, he began to creep back to Kise's room only to have a mini heart attack as Ryoko door suddenly burst open right as he passed by.

"AAHH-nngmmf!"

Without thinking, Aomine quickly covered her mouth with his hands before she could fully scream. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Just- don't be scared! It's me!" He whispered as quietly as he could. He really did feel bad. He could tell Ryoko had recovered form the initial shock, and recognized him, but she was still trembling from having been startled like that. He listened down the hall to try and hear if Kise had woken up, and when he didn't sense any movement coming from the other room, he gently motioned Ryoko back into her's. She sighed heavily as she took a seat at the foot of her bed.

"Daiki-kun; I had no idea you were here! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Ah, yeah, sorry 'bout that. I really didn't mean to scare you. I was just getting some water.." He finally looked her in eyes and noticed how swollen they were. He was right. She was definitely crying, and now he couldn't help but notice the awkward atmosphere. He did the right thing by apologizing, but now he had to think of a way to get the hell out of there before Kise knew he was talking to his sister. Yet, at the same time, Aomine's manly heart couldn't stand leaving a girl to cry by herself. "Um.. Are you alright? I swear I wasn't eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but overhear some stuff.."

Ryoko blushed furiously and rubbed at her face trying to erase her obviously upset state. "Oh, it's nothing! I.. I was just fighting with.. a friend."

"This late at night? You should get some sleep; we still have school tomorrow.."

"Mm, yeah. I'll be fine. I haven't been sleeping well lately, anyway."

Aomine noticed that she was trying unbelievably hard not to tear up again. She quickly lost the battle with herself as her cheeks began drowning. "I'm- I'm so sorry. I don't know what' wrong with me." Ryoko tried to laugh out while still aggressively wiping her eyes. "You should- you should go back to bed. I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning, right?"

"Hey.." He placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and started to say something, but immediately stopped himself. "Uh.. Yeah. I guess."

Her sad, golden eyes smiled at him for a brief second before she shooed him out back into the hallway.

_Damnit, _he thought to himself. _She really does look like him when she's crying._

He finally found his way back into Kise's room and willed himself to drift off.

* * *

When Aomine's cell alarm went off the next morning, Kise was still asleep. He shook him awake to let him know he was leaving so he could get back to his school somewhat on time. Kise drowsily nodded in acknowledgement, and once he had come to his senses a bit more, spoke up.

"Oh, yeah, Aominecchi.. um.. thanks again for staying over. I haven't slept that well in a long time, hehe." He turned his head up to flash a grin that could make even Angels fall.

And if that wasn't overkill enough, he got out of bed and walked over to give Aomine a warm hug before drawing back quickly. "Aahahaaa I must still be sleepy; I'm being super awkward right now, my bad." He laughed.

Aomine just stood there in utter disbelief before he could forcefully usher out a complimenting chuckle. "Ah..haha. What are you saying? It's not a big deal." He involuntarily reached out to ruffle Kise's bedhead. "I'll see you later, kay? Call me if you need anything."

"Ah- are you.. not coming back tonight?" Kise had grabbed onto Aomine's arm as he tried to leave. His facial expression now was a mixture of confusion and sadness.

_So he really is seriously spooked.._

Aomine smiled softly; a huge rarity. "'Course I am. As long as you need me to."

_Kise..was Kise blushing?!_

Aomine quickly left his room before his heart could pour out of his chest onto the floor. He must have been imagining things. On his way to the genkan where his shoes were, he ran into Ryoko sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal. As soon as she noticed him, she greeted him politely.

"Good morning, Daiki-kun!"

"Eh.. mornin'."

_Shit. This is even more awkward than last night._

"Are you going to make it to school on time? Touou is kinda far from here!"

"Yeah, I'll be fine; I was just leaving n-"

"And you'll _have _to leave _now _if you're gonna make it." Aomine was cut off by a considerably grumpier (as opposed to a minute ago) Kise.

After he got his shoes on, Kise handed him his bag and shoved him out the door.

* * *

Kise shut the door behind the departing Aomine, and turned to face his sister with a surprisingly sinister-looking glare that tainted his pretty face.

"Ryoko."

"Yeeeees, Ryoutaaa~" She sang in a slightly mocking tone.

"I know you're still upset about what happened, but don't you dare go after my friends to ease your loneliness." Kise firmly commanded.

"Geez, calm down; I was only saying good morning like a civilized human being. Aren't you being a bit too protective?"

"I- I'm not. I just know how you are, that's all."

Ryoko just rolled her eyes. "Ugh. I _told _you. I'm done for a while. I know how I was in the past, but I mean it when I say I really like this guy. I can't think about anyone else right now. So don't worry; you can continue on safely with your stupid little fag-crush on Daiki-kun."

"Wha- shut up! It's not like that; gross!"

Ryoko only smirked at him. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Are you done in the bathroom? I'm gonna take a shower now." With that, she waltzed off.

At the moment, Kise didn't really know what to think. He tried not to think too horribly of his sister, but sometimes it was really difficult to deal with her. Especially lately. He didn't know the whole story, but from what he could guess, the guy she had recently been seeing broke up with her for whatever reason.

_Who knows, she could've had another guy on the side, and he found out._

Kise laughed to himself. If that were true, She deserved to be as distraught as she has been this past month. The part that he hated was when she tried to take her frustrations out on him. Of course, she would do so by trying to get their mom involved. Which was such a stupid, feeble mistake. She just didn't realize that. As long as Ryoko didn't have some guy to satisfy her craving for attention and adoration, she would instead go directly to the woman that had basically abandoned both of them without a second thought. Kise was smart enough to realize that Ryoko's easiness with men had developed due to her insecurity over the whole issue, but he didn't understand why she wouldn't just directly fight for their mother's acknowledgement. Or why she didn't realize that no matter how hard she tried, mom would only ever act as a message bird. Their mother was never the most reliable sort, so all the complaints coming out of his sister's mouth were basically just being spit out to their stepfather.

And, boy, was he something.

Kise shuddered at the memory of his voice on the answering machine.

_"You're doing your mother no good by making her worry. You aren't children anymore; you can take care of yourselves. I don't want to hear of any more nonsense from either of you, or you had best believe I will come over there and make it so no one will ever hear a complaint come out of your mouths again."_

And Kise knew he was serious. Ryoko, on the other hand, underestimated his derangement.

_"He's just a stupid man; trust me. I have plenty of experience dealing with them."_

"Che." Sure she did.

Oh, well. He would just have to be careful. Plus, he felt a whole hell of a lot better with Aomine around.

* * *

"Aomine-kun, if I have to wake you up one more time I'm sending you home with a suspension."

He awoke with a jolt and a sharp pain on the back of his neck. "Ughhh." This seriously sucked. If he continued sleeping at Kise's place like this he was surely going to be falling asleep in every class. And his teachers already hated him for not being the model, motivated, hardworking student.

He somehow managed to stay awake for the rest of the day, except he found himself daydreaming about what it would be like to sleep over at Kise's apartment if his feelings were reciprocated. Some alone time in the bathroom was definitely needed before he met up with the object of his fantasies later.

It seemed like a lifetime before the final bell rang, and Aomine had never been more grateful that his captain had stopped nagging him about attending practice. He was almost past the school gates when he felt a tug on the back of his collar.

"And just what has got you leaving school so anxiously these past couple days?" His oldest friend's sultry pink eyes tried to bare him of all defenses, giving him a look saying, _I know something's up._

"Geehh, Satsuki, not now, okay? I'm exhausted and I want to go take a nap." Aomine's vision was seriously starting to blur at he tried to look her back in the eyes.

"I can see that. You really do look like shit." Her expression didn't change, and she wasn't loosening the grip she still had on his shirt.

"Thanks, I can always count on you to make me feel better." Aomine spat with extra sarcasm.

"Really, Dai-chan. What the hell's been going on? I've barely even talked to you this week."

"It's kind of.. complicated." He sighed. He really was too tired to explain everything to Satsuki, but he knew she wasn't one to back down once she was determined to find something out. Besides, information gathering _was_ her area of expertise.

"If it's as complicated as you say, you might as well tell me now before it gets worse, and it would take even more effort to start from the beginning. You are exceptionally lazy, after all." Her serious face finally morphed into a friendly smirk. "Let's go get something to eat; I'll even treat you since you look so shitty." She playfully punched him, but at least got him to laugh.

* * *

Momoi casually flipped her long, pink hair over her shoulder and took a sip of her soft drink. "So you finally reached your breaking point, and now all these other side problems are just making it worse. That's what you're trying to say?"

Aomine narrowed his eyes at her "You don't have to make it sound _that_ goddamn pathetic."

"Ah, no, no." She held up her hands. "I don't think it's pathetic at all that you've had an unrequited love for four years, have given up hope without even trying, and are still whipped cream for the guy."

He let his forehead fall to the table with a thud. "Argghh, shut up." Even though Satsuki had known about Aomine's affections for Kise since middle school, he still didn't talk about them very much around her; he was a guy. Still, she seemed to have him pegged.

"But really, Dai-chan. This could be serious. If the stepdad actually ends up going after them, things could get real bad real fast. Although to me it sounds like the older sister is the root of this problem."

Well, at least she was taking him somewhat seriously.

Aomine just shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, well, Kise said he tried to talk to her about it, but she won't listen."

Satsuki rolled her eyes and then muttered under her breath, "Typical slut bag that thinks she has all men figured out.."

Well, that description _was _somewhat accurate. "I dunno," Aomine threw out. "she _is _pretty high-up on the high-school-whore-level scale, but you really can't help feeling sorta bad for her. I mean, look at what happened to her family at such an important part of her life."

All he got as a response for while were shocked, wide, pink orbs. "What the heck.. it isn't like you to be that understanding; something really _is _wrong with you!" she laughed. The only thing Aomine could do was tell her to shut up for the fiftieth time that afternoon. "No, I get where you're coming from, I do. But there's nothing wrong with Ki-chan, and he had to go through the same thing!"

"The fuck I know; don't underestimate a woman's psychotic potential."

This earned him several more punches.

"Ah, Satsuki, I gotta go; I'm gonna go pick up Kise."

"Ooookay, Mr. Whipped Cream~"

Make that fifty-one "shut ups."

* * *

He felt as if a small, yet significant, weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he walked from the train station towards Kaijou High School. Even if she were a pain in the ass sometimes, talking with Satsuki always made him feel better. It felt good to have someone know about his inner turmoil. His thought process was interrupted, however, when he ran into one of the conversation points he and his childhood friend had been discussing not half an hour ago.

"Daiki-kun. Are you on your way to pick up Ryouta again? Wow; he's so lucky to have a strong, handsome bodyguard like you!" Ryoko joked lightly. She must have been on her way home already, since they weren't far from the school gates.

"Hah. Uh, yeah. I'm meeting him in a bit."

"Listen, I want to apologize for last night. I definitely showed you an unsightly side of myself." Ryoko widened her eyes to show her sincerity.

_Well, it's not like you have the greatest reputation to begin with.._

"It's really not a big dea-"

"No! I really am sorry!" And, to Aomine's surprise, she placed her hands together and offered him a small bow. "I'd really like to make it up to you for comforting me."

"I didn't really do anyth-"

Ryoko shushed him again. "Oh, but you did. Sometimes when a girl is upset, it's enough to just have someone there to ask if she's okay." She smiled sweetly at him, and even though Aomine was in love with a guy, he couldn't help but be attracted to the concentrated dose of feminine charm she was handing out at the moment. "So I'd really be honored if you'd let me pay you back. I don't have club activities after school tomorrow, so let's go eat somewhere! That way we can talk; I'd really want to have the chance to explain myself."

Once again, he tried to protest. "You really don't have to do that."

Her cute, bright smile suddenly turned somber. "I want to talk to you about Ryouta, too.."

Aomine's heart started beating considerably faster. "Uh.. is there something wrong with Kise?"

Her frown grew even deeper. "Will you meet me tomorrow? It'll take a while to tell you everything. Maybe you can help me, too."

And that's how Aomine's curiosity got the best of him. "Alright, sure." Kise would be busy with basketball practice until later in the evening, anyway. "..Let's not tell him, though, okay?"

Ryoko laughed. "I know, I know; I'm not stupid. I wouldn't want you guys to get in a fight just because Ryouta found out you went out with me once." Aomine flinched at her use of the phrase "went out." She must have sensed this, because she quickly corrected herself. "Ahaha oh, I didn't mean it like that! You know what I mean. He can just be a little sensitive, that's all. And he doesn't like me very much, so he gets mad if I even say one word to you! He must be the jealous type haha!"

_Jealous?_

After discussing the place and time to meet up, Ryoko waved goodbye to him, and pranced off in the direction he would be headed later that night alongside her younger brother.

Aomine let out the nervous breath he didn't even know he had been holding for so long, and turned back in the direction of the school's gates wondering, for what seemed to be the hundredth time that week, just what the hell he was getting himself into.


End file.
